Hello and welcome to The Marketing Blog. My name is Michael Fleischner and this blog has been developed to share my more than 14 years of Marketing experience with anyone interested in learning more about marketing or Internet marketing. The Marketing Blog markets marketing simple and covers all aspects of marketing with a particular focus on internet marketing.

Thursday, August 02, 2018

This post will tell you EXACTLY how to get
the most from influencers on Social Media and get right into the heart of the
industry, which you operate.

And the best part, it works for ANY
industry.

I’ll tell you how to create an article,
also known as a web asset, which allows you to promote to influencers in your
niche.

Then I show you how to get their attention,
by promoting on the increasingly over-crowded, social media platforms.

I also give you a few tips on how to make
sure your article provides a great user experience.

So let’s get going…

Creating a web asset (a unique article in the form of a list)

Step 1: Plan an article on your blog

The first thing you need, to start
generating traffic to your website, is a blog post that provides information to
help your target market with challenges they face.

For this strategy, your article is going to
be a ‘listicle’. That’s simply an article in the form of a list.

You will want to include a minimum of 40
items in your listicle. So, do some keyword research and pick a subject that’s
wide enough.

Here’s a few examples:

·42 Must Have Business Analysis
Books

·43 Outstanding Quotes from
Business Experts

·45 Amazing Recipes from the
best cake bloggers

So, you could simply create a list of books
that relate to your industry and include the authors.

Alternatively, you could find recipes that
have already been tried and tested by bloggers with influence. And reference
their recipe page.

After creating a shortlist of keywords, find
the influencers you want to mention in your post and make a note of each one.

When you have decided on a minimum of 40
influencers and their content you want to reference, you want to do a bit more
digging.

Find their contact details:

- --Twitter Profile (Personal and
business)

- -- Facebook Website Page

- --LinkedIn Profile

- -- Instagram

- -- Email address (if available)

You might not get all these details but try
to get the details of at least 2 social platforms.

Then, you’re ready for step 2.

Step 2: Create the article that lists your industry
influencers

This should be easy, but I have a few tips
to get you going.

Firstly, it’s hugely important to create a fantastic
user experience to keep visitors on your site after landing from the search
engines or from social channels.

And there’s a couple of things you can do
to achieve this.

1. Design a visual, easy-to-follow
table for the page in a logical order so that people can look down the table at
their own leisure and find what they might be looking for.

2 2. Add sort buttons to the top of
the table so that your readers can view the list in any order they want.

3. Also, make sure you write a brief
introduction above the table, so you have some content on the page. That way,
you’ll be more likely to rank in the search engines.

4. Finally, you could even add in a hook,
which leads the visitor to another one of your articles. That will reduce your
bounce rate.

The most important part of the listicle is
that you have the names of influencers who are on social media, this can be
either Twitter, Facebook or even LinkedIn. Just make sure that they have a nice
number of followers.

Here’s an example of what your table might
look like:

You can see the full table and article here
if you want to take a look.

Step 3: Optimize the article for SEO (search engine traffic)

Google is now showing rich snippets, as
the top result, more and more often. And lists are no exception.

So, one of the other benefits of listing
items in an article is that they often show up in the rich snippets.

Here’s
an example:

When you search for best coffee beans in
Google, there’s a list of different options that have come from a blog.

However, there’s few things you need to
do in the code so that the page is optimized.

Such as using <li> and
<o> or <ul> or <table> tags. Teaching html is outside the scope of this
post, so if you’re unsure, find someone who knows.

Now you’ve created your list and identified important influencers, it’s
time for the most important part of blogging - start promoting your new
article.

Here’s how…

Promoting your new asset – one tweet every day

This step is essential if you want to grow
your website. Many digital marketing specialists say:

“Content is KING!”

I
say….

Content is good but promotion is the true KING.
So, here’s how you can massively leverage the visibility of your new post.

Step 4: Schedule one tweet per day

You probably know this but whenever you
mention someone in your tweet or share, that person receives an immediate
notification saying you just mentioned them.

This is gold dust for marketers. It’s
practically free advertising.

Here’s the strategy you need to implement.

Remember the list of influencers you
created at the start. It’s now time to use it.

I’ll explain using Twitter but you can
recreate this strategy using any of the social platforms.

Write a tweet that mentions and thanks every
one of the influencers that you mentioned in your post. Tell them they’ve been
added to the list. And thank them for their contribution, include their
personal twitter handle.

Here’s a preview of one I created for 42
influencers in the Business Analysis niche. Notice that I provide both a link
back to the article and a direct mention of the author of each of the books.

The reason you do this is because the
author will be notified and may retweet your tweet to their thousands of
followers. That will give you loads more recognition AND traffic to your blog –
BOOM!

Step 5: Email the influencers

Doing this can get you involved with the
influencers just that little bit more, but you may find it difficult to get
hold of their email addresses. However, if you do find contact details, don’t
be afraid to drop them an email.

All you need to do is write out an email to
the influencers and request a collaboration.

Here’s an example email.

Hey
[Influencer Name]

I
hope you don’t mind but I’ve added your book to my list of Must have Business
Analysis Books.

It’s here:
[LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE]

I
wondered if you’d be interested in mentioning my list on your website.

I’d
be happy to write some lead in text for you if you’re interested.

I
would love to hear from you.

Cheers,

Matt

So, there you have it, a few steps that
will take you immediately towards getting recognised in your industry after
setting up a business or blog.

And I guess, the morale of the story is,
that you need to promote other people before they will promote you and your
business.

OnlineGrowth Guru SEO is a digital company in
Manchester, UK. They specialize is growing clients websites using different
promotion strategies.

Thursday, October 05, 2017

Companies today are experiencing some form of a crisis when it comes to their investment in mobile, from retail to media apps. But don't be fooled by all the apps you see being sold in the App Store. Brands are struggling with mobile.

One reason is that they’re not really organized properly to address the mobile revolution. For many businesses operating in the mobile space, something still feels off.

And despite the early momentum, there’s plenty of evidence today that there’s low app adoption and consumer satisfaction. In fact, based on a recent study, 24 percent of people have no problem dropping your app after just one use.

You’ve likely heard talk about a phenomenon known as the "mobile engagement crisis" where brands are failing to innovate quickly enough to meet customers’ expectations. We’re in it, people, and for brands, the struggle is real.

Here lies the problem

It’s not the viability of mobile you should be worried about, but rather the execution and implementation of mobile as a strategy. The lack of standards and toolkits for all stages of maturity is a major part of the problem.

This crisis manifests differently from company to company, but its acuteness is often revealed by analyzing the organizational structure surrounding mobile.

The rise of the cross-functional mobile team

I’ve started noticing a pattern emerging in enterprise organizations around the creation of cross-functional mobile teams to help drive growth in mobile. These teams are the mobile evolution of the “growth” team, designed to be full-stack players capable of developing and marketing a product.

According to an analysis of our entire customer base, companies with cross-functional mobile teams outperformed those without such groups when it comes to monthly active users (MAUs). In fact, only the brands with cross-functional mobile teams showed a positive year-over-year growth in MAUs for their apps. Pretty impressive that what’s going on under the roof of a company can have such an impact.

In fact, most of the time, the mere existence of a cross-functional mobile team is a good indicator that a company has achieved a certain level of mobile maturity. It’s not about the actual team itself, but rather the behaviors and principles that the cross-functional structure enables that reveals maturity and drives performance — such as shared KPIs, easy access to development teams and focused alignment on user engagement strategies.

What’s next for mobile?

Tackling mobile has proven challenging for even the best consumer companies. Some of the top things that should be considered are how mobile fits into the overall customer journey across all channels and how user data is combined and shared across the organization.

Brands looking to increase confidence in their mobile strategy should start by looking at their organizational structure and think through whether it’s driving both the desired behaviors and results. That’s just step one.

Companies should also reflect on the types of conversations and debates happening internally around mobile and use them as an indicator for just how far along they are. Are you debating the value of mobile overall to the business? Have you moved on to considering the best way to engage customers and how to organize around that? Or are you at a more advanced stage, seeking to optimize that engagement and looking for additional levers you can pull to add fuel to the fire?

Before blaming it all on millennials or even different departments, think deeply about how your organizational structure is affecting your desired mobile outcomes. Building confidence takes time, but take comfort in knowing that there are places you can start to move the needle before completely hitting reset.

About the Author - Lou Orfanos @loutwit

Lou leads the product organization at Localytics, where he is responsible for the company’s product vision and evangelizing app marketing and analytics to the start-up community. Prior to Localytics, Lou was VP of Product for join.me at LogMeIn, where he helped build it into one of the world’s fastest growing collaboration products. Prior to LogMeIn, he held various product, sales and marketing leadership roles at Monitor, a leading strategy consultancy, and Extraprise, a boutique technology services firm. Lou holds a B.S. in Marketing from Bentley University.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

There are so many professionals out there looking for guidance on how best to market their services - but simply don't know who to start. When thinking about a local marketing strategy for your professional services firm, knowing where to start can be one of the toughest parts. In this post I'll share some key areas that local businesses, specifically professionals like Dentists, Doctors, and Attorney's should consider when promoting their business locally.The first step is focusing on your Google My Business profile. Google maintains the largest local directory on the planet and there are tons of professionals that either don't know how to verify their listing or simply don't understand the positive impact of having a verified Google My Business account. When users search for a local professional, your profile will appear in search results and serve as a huge billboard promoting your practice. These listings also include a link to your website, hours of operation, and reviews.The second step is to optimize your own website. With the advent of do-it-yourself website builders like GoDaddy, Wix, and WordPress, making your own website doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. You can easily find a freelancer who can quickly and easily develop a good looking website for your firm. Make sure it is easy to navigate, is optimized from a search engine optimization perspective, and gives users an easy way to get in touch with you to set an appointment.The third step is to think about local search directories. Local directory services like Lizard Local can help to optimize your business information and distribute across large, powerful local directories like Yelp - improving exposure and helping to build your online reputation. Professionals that invest the time and effort in expanding their online brand not only grow their practices faster, but increase retention among existing patients and customers.The final step for increasing you local presence is to "keep it local". Work with your community and encourage online coverage for your office. For example, a number of my customers do free screenings or provide a day of free legal advice. This type of promotion can easily be picked up online from local newspapers and radio stations. These connections bode well from a local optimization standpoint and help you increase your reputation.Don't make local optimization harder than it needs to be. If you create, optimize, and verify your Google My Business profile, you'll be ahead of about 80% of businesses who fail to see the value in the verification process. Once you've set up your Google profile, optimize your own website and then begin promoting it using local online directories. And lastly, start making local connections that can help you and your business rise above the crowd.

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Malvertising
is a word that has been bouncing around the internet for a while now. It refers to an
increasingly common type of online hack, which involves infected links hidden
in advertisements online.

However, many marketers fail to realize the significance of this seemingly
simple and common hack. In reality, if
you aren't versed in the risks and security elements around malvertising, then
it's possible that all of your future campaigns could be affected – and not in
a positive way. Here's the basic scoop that will allow you a good understanding
of this nasty type of malware and keep you and your work safe in the future.

What Is Malvertising?

Simply put,
malvertising is what is says on the tin: malicious advertising. It takes the visual form of an
advert for a website or service that, when clicked, will redirect your computer
to criminal servers. From here, there may be a virus which finds its way into
your computer or a malicious hacker on the other end trying to farm your bank
details.

While some cases of malware, such as the classic porn pop-up, are easy to spot
as they seem obviously out of place, some are not so blatant. Often,
cybercriminals will use legitimate channels to ensure their advert is placed on
a website. Because the infected code is so well camouflaged, site owners and
visitors will regularly not be aware there's even a problem until it's too late
and the damage has been done.

Malvertising and Me

For bloggers,
marketers and small businesses, being aware of the potential effect
malvertising could have on your online endeavors is essential. While many of us
find ourselves procrastinating when working and clicking on obscure links to
quench our boredom, this simple practice could secure your role as a victim of
malvertising.

Here's
why you don't want that to happen: once malware has accessed your computer,
particularly when gaining entry unnoticed, it can cause havoc in your files. A
worst-case scenario could include important work documents corrupting or even
sensitive customer and client information finding its way into the public
domain.

As well as the frustration and stress required
to put right these situations, there's even the possibility of financial loss.
This could be via the infiltration of your bank details or through having to
pay compensation to a business affiliate whose data you also lost during the
attack.

Malvertising & Marketing

Unfortunately,
it's not just in terms of our own personal security that malvertising can
become a nuisance. If you're running any type of online marketing, promotion or
sales campaign then it's also imperative that you take steps to secure yourself
from one of these ads jumping on your operation and causing problems for both
yourself and your customers.

The main reason for this is to protect the face of your brand. Online reputation is a powerfulthing and
companies who fail to properly harness the power of an expansive and positive
online presence very often fall short. So when a customer is alerted to potential
malware on your website and they subsequently avoid your domain and company
like the plague, this is bad news for business. Once the message spreads, it
could be enough to bring down your whole brand.
How To Stay Safe

Fortunately,
there are several layers of protection and security practices you can apply to
every element of your internet use to ensure that all your hard work doesn't
become insignificant thanks to a full-blown malvertising attack. These few
steps will take you on your way to securing yourself from any significant
problems, both with your personal systems and your visible marketing campaigns.

·Be
stringent with clicking.By far the best way to avoid
contracting a virus from a malvertising link is not to click on it. When
surfing the internet, be sure only to click on trusted sources.

·Pick
the right security suite.
There are many great antivirus packages out there that will give you strong
automatic protection from infections trying to enter your computer. Picking the
right one for your needs is essential so be sure to do some research.

·Use
a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
To avoid third-party injections of malicious malvertising code on websites that
you run, be sure to use a VPN when away from your office to stop remote hackers
gaining access to your admin panel. SecureThoughts provides VPN reviews
if you want more information on this.

·Employ
website specific security.
There are several great plugins available, particularly if you have built your
site with WordPress. These will provide dedicated antivirus protection and will
alert you to suspicious code.

It's
true that malvertising is on the rise and there is a significant threat to all
those who use the internet to promote or share content. However, it most
certainly isn't anywhere near a doomsday situation just yet. By employing these
simple strategies, you can markedly reduce your chance of contracting malware
or hosting it on your website or blog.

Have you
encountered malvertising while working on your own projects? How did it affect
you? How did you handle it? Let us know in the comments below.

About the Author: Caroline is a
technology blogger and internet security expert who has their fair share of
marketing experience. She knows how closely connected security and promotion
can be and wants to share all she knows to help make the internet a safer
place!

Monday, August 29, 2016

I was recently talking to a friend by the name of Evett Shulman about publishing information online. We started talking about specific types of information and how it becomes distributed across the web. As Google continues to update their algorithm, professionals of all kinds are seeking to enhance the information provided to prospective donors and employers and learning how to do so.

Evett Shulmanis a development professional, skilled in the planning and implementation of a comprehensive philanthropic program, bringing new avenues for collaboration between the nonprofit organization and community businesses. As a result, she was seeking a few basic guidelines for managing information about her accomplishments and background.

The days of simply having a resume online are long gone. The majority of donors, philanthropic organizations, and potential employers now rely on the internet to collect their information. Here are some guidelines for helping professionals like http://evettshulman.comto create a strategic, responsive approach managing information online.https://chroniclevitae.com/people/804502-evett-shulman/profile?cid=VTXCollabName

1. Be proactive. If you want to put your best foot forward, you must proactively manage your online information. For example, having a well built out Linkedin Profile is a great place to start. (ex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evett-shulman-a9441114). This is ideal because with a site like Linkedin, you control the information that's published.

2. Think about your audience. Who are you positioning yourself for? Is it a future employer, mate, or class that you're teaching. Be mindful of your audience and craft messages that work for them.

3. Stay active. It's not enough to publish a few things and walk away. Get active on social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. By having an active network, you're continually building mentions and other information online about who you are and how others should perceive you.

Managing your online reputation, whether you're Evett Shulman and John Doe, doesn't have to be a chore. Start small. Build a few social media accounts, and get active. If all else fails, go out and buy a URL with your name in it. Build your own website and point to other online assets from that resource. Over time this will build in authority and come out on top of local search results.

Don't forget to link all of your resources together. Also, be sure to link to sites that have already published your information. Evett Shulman has done so and you can too. Google the names of other professionals in your space. Take notice of the sites they've published their information on a do the same. In not time, your online reputation will be stronger than ever before. D